


A Tale of Star-Crossed Lovers

by Millixi77



Series: Yandere AU [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Devious Oma Kokichi, M/M, Most everyone else is oblivious, Slight Supernatural Elements, Slightly Suspicious Amami Rantaro(tm), Yandere, Yandere Momota Kaito, Yandere Saihara Shuichi, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-07-14 18:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16045757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millixi77/pseuds/Millixi77
Summary: Shuuichi started off the school day like he normally did: watching Kaito as much as he possibly could. He loved Kaito so, so much... He wondered when he would be able to confess to him. Before high school ended, definitely. But for now, he was content observing his love... Today was definitely just another ordinary day of school.(At least, that's what he thinks...)





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> ... I'm alive? Yes, definitely alive! I'd like to thank the members of the writing Discord server I'm in for spurring me on to write this! I'd also like to thank CrazyNekoChan as well, for encouraging me to continue it, and giving me a little writing advice!

Shuuichi watched as Kaito walked into the school building, smiling and talking to the people who had practically swarmed him as soon as he’d entered the school gate. Or, more accurately, talking to the people that had swarmed him three-point-five seconds after he’d entered the school gate. Kaito was one of the most popular people in school for good reason. He was one of the smartest people there, even though his easygoing attitude made most mistake him for an idiot. Not only was he smart, he was also athletic - he was one of the top football players in school. He could probably get a football scholarship if he wanted, he was just that good!

But he wouldn’t be doing that, oh no. He’d had his heart set on becoming an astronaut since he was a child, and he’d been working towards that goal for years. He was determined to pursue that goal, and he was on a good, fast track to achieve it. His grades were fantastic, and, a fact that most students didn’t know: the majority of his courses were AP classes! And he was acing them, making it look as if it was effortless. It was so invigorating to watch and wait for Kaito’s latest test grade to get uploaded into the database! It had been a bit of a hassle to hack into Kaito’s specific grade database, but it was worth it. Just watching his beloved Kaito score high grades and get closer and closer to his dream was so energizing! It always sent a jolt down his spine, a jolt of pure joy, whenever it happened.

...maybe not always pure, but that was besides the point. The point was that anything and everything Kaito did was si amazing and perfect that it made Shuuichi feel giddy whenever he was lucky enough to witness it.

It was especially interesting to watch Kaito exercising. It was just enthralling to watch his muscles ripple and flex, showing off how strong they were. The way that his skin would glosten with sweat was tantalizing. And whenever Kaito had to pant to catch his breath, something about the sound always made him feel a little… excited.

And Kaito wasn't only sexy; he could be cute, too!

He was simply adorable whenever he was doing homework! On the particularly puzzling questions, his eyebrows would furrow slightly and he would glare at them in the cutest way possible. On the hellishly difficult questions, he sometimes ended up chewing his tongue a bit. And when he’d finished whichever assignment he'd been doing, he always smiled a little and just looked so proud of himself… it nearly broke Shuuichi's heart from how cute it was! Pictures of small animals were forever relegated to the trash bin: Kaito was the single most adorable thing Shuuichi had ever had the privilege of seeing in his lifetime.

He would never get enough of Kaito. Shuuichi sighed, feeling almost stupidly happy. He watched as the last of the entourage surrounding Kaito finished dragged themselves into the building, trailing behind him like the wandering dogs they were. He closed his eyes, visualizing what would happen next.

They would follow Kaito as he went to his locker, making mundane conversation all the while. Then, as Kaito opened his locker and began preparing for class, majority of them would leave, citing some generic excuse, going to prepare for their own classes, leaving only a few people around Kaito. Those people would be his closest friends: Kirumi Tojo, Rantarou Amami and Kaede Akamatsu. They would usually linger for a little while, talking about more inane things, before they would disband to their own lockers, only to meet up again in their first period class, AP World History. A class that he, coincidentally, happened to be in.

Shuuichi opened his eyes, trying to quell the sudden rush of excitement he felt.

Luckily for him, no one would suspect him of monitoring Kaito so closely. He’d made sure of that. He’d positioned himself in a way that, depending on the angle from where you looked up, made him look as if he’d been staring at something else entirely if anyone happened to look up and see him. Thankfully for him, the odds were usually in his favor. When people weren’t babbling about complete nonsense, their eyes were superglued to their phones, the floor or - on rare occasions - books. Useless, that’s what they all were. Useless, without purpose or ambition. They were only fit for one-time use, and it was never good to have prolonged contact with them.

He could barely look at all of them without feeling sick.

To put it bluntly, it wasn't as if you could interact well with something you could barely see clearly. They all blended into the same uniform shade of grey, and picking out a specific person to look at was an endeavor that was useless ninety nine percent of the time.

The world was coated in shades of white and grey, and they were the lightest shade of grey he had seen so far. It wasn't the shade of light grey a small child would use to color in their first drawings of an elephant, oh no. It was the color of cement dust.

His eyes watered uncomfortably at the thought.

They were such a light shade of grey. So light, so fleeting, so hard to focus on. Fickle birds that refused to find a place to rest. Their interests varied so much it was amazing to imagine that they managed to single out a potential future occupation. Their hobbies were completely and utterly stupid, serving as disposable chew toys for moronic dogs. They would grow up with this grey haze obscuring them and they would die with it. Unimportant, useless, disposable. That’s what they all were. Just the same blend of bland, unappealing light grey, never interesting, never worthwhile.

He hated them. He hated that light grey. Unassuming, subservient, conforming, average. Just staying near them for too long made him feel sick, not just looking at them. They blended together into something appallingly ordinary just by standing in groups. The problem was that they were everywhere, so it couldn’t be escaped. The worst part was the fact that they couldn't even keep their color to themselves. Every single thing they touched was tainted with that ever-present light grey fog, and Shuuichi hated it oh so much… As a detective, he naturally sharp observational skills..however, when ecru single thing you had to look at was cloaked in this light grey mist, it was difficult to pinpoint delicate details. It would just make his job so much easier if there were less of them to obscure details with their aura.

The blotched ones were marginally better, he thought, going to his seat. Some of them realized how bland and boring they were, and they tried to make up for it. Their attempts at making themselves stand out were pitiful, but at the very least it showed that they had the motivation to do something. An eccentric hairstyle, some lavishly expensive accessories, a new phone charm or a new phone case. Nicer looking shoes, an expensive pencil case, a colorfully decorated binder, adopting a new writing style, or using fancy pens. Anything to make them stand out, while still remaining within the school guidelines. No sane person wanted to be forgotten after all, and the only way to do that would be to stand out. For all their efforts, they still remained grey. A darker, splotchier looking grey, but still grey. If they managed to become particularly eccentric, they would turn into the dark grey of wet concrete mixture. Grey was still ordinary, whether light. blotched or dark. They were all sheep, being herded around by society, unable to think of anything to make themselves truly unique.

He hated them. They were so feeble, it was pathetically easy to tools them this way and that, to use them, to manipulate them however he wanted, to pick and choose and use and throw out. It was a game to him. A twisted game, but a game nonetheless. It was all they were good for, after all. They didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

The people who mattered weren’t grey. They they stood out from the crowd, and they were few and far between. Black, red and pink. The supposed holy trinity of colors, in his eyes. The three auras of importance. Were they auras? He didn’t know. What he did know was that for now, he was the only one who could see them. These colours just seemed to hang over people, either dulling or brightening their natural colors, and depending on the concentration of people, would affect the objects they preferred to hang around.

The ordinary people hadn't always been so aggravating. When he was younger, they'd had more color to them, and they seemed to have some semblance of individuality. Now… he didn't know whether his worldview had changed or they had. The shades of gray just blended into each other and collectively faded over time, leaving him both confused and disgusted.

You started getting sick of people when they practically coated the entire world in an everlasting coat of unrelenting mist. At the very least, he could clear it away by touching it. Red overpowered grey. Every other color overpowered grey, to be honest. The problem was that other colors were very, very rare. Rare to the point where it was a treat to see another person who wasn’t grey.

Like Kaito. His aura was a beautiful, amazingly bright pink that easily bled into everything he touched, as if he was a benevolent god who had been gracious enough to liven up the zombie-like atmosphere of the school. Shuuichi looked over at Kaito’s desk, where a beautiful mist of dark pink settled as if it innately knew it belonged there.

He blushed, taking out his phone. He was grateful that he had a class with Kaito… it was one of the best coincidences he’d experienced in his life. Being able to observe Kaito from a distance was amazing on its own, but being able to observe him in such a close proximity was something truly wondrous. It was almost a wonder that he managed to pay attention to the subject matter being taught in class. Kaito was definitely a much more interesting subject… He was sure that he had an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge in his head about Kaito. He could tell what mood Kaito was in at a quick glance, and more often than not, what had put him in said mood. He knew what Kaito did at school, what he did at home, what he did in so many other places…

If Kaito was a flame, Shuuichi was a moth. If Kaito was a drug, Shuuichi was addicted to him. Ever since they’d first met, Shuuichi had felt something making him gravitate towards him.

That wasn’t to say that their first meeting was anything significant. They’d both been snot-nosed brats in elementary school, and, it wasn’t even a meeting. Everything was all on Shuuichi. Even back then, he’d wanted to escape the endless, miserable sea of grey, and he’d been boredly gazing around the lunchroom. At first, there had been nothing but grey, and he’d initially felt discouraged. Everyone was a boring, flat shade of grey, and he was feeling tears build up in his eyes because he didn’t want to be the only one who was colorful.

Then he saw a flash of something, it was… it was a boy. It was a boy and he was glowing pink! He wasn’t grey like everyone else! He wasn’t the only colorful one! He’d felt the tears dry up, and a bright smile crawl onto his face. The pink boy started looking up, and he’d quickly averted his gaze, looking at his lap. Maybe there was something good in the world after all.

Every day after that, he’d scanned the lunchroom crowd, looking for that pink glow, that small drop of hope in the sea of nothing. At the time he couldn’t do anything else but that - Kaito had been in a different class. It was during middle school that he’d finally been able to observe Kaito as much as he’d wanted. Now, in high school, he’d perfectly refined his technique. Being an apprentice detective was a helpful asset here, and since he specialised in homicide cases, he had a bit of an edge on all of this, than if he specialized in, say, missing persons or infidelity cases. He knew how some killers stalked their victims before finally murdering them, he knew how they fucked up. He knew everything the police would look for first.

Consequently, he knew exactly how to avoid suspicion. Sometimes he couldn’t observe Kaito as directly as he wanted to, but he’d found a way to keep track of what Kaito was doing, with a bit of external assistance. A small red dot appeared over the messaging app on his phone, and he felt his heart leap for joy. He quickly tapped over it and immediately started typing a brief message of thanks.

Getting to know Kokichi had been simultaneously one of the best and worst things Shuuichi had ever done in his life. Kokichi was far from easy to get to know, and it had taken years to gain his trust. Even now, he didn’t know everything about the boy, but he knew that some boundries took time to cross, and he wasn’t about to push away someone he considered a close friend. He wasn’t stupid, after all. Even though they were good friends, neither of them were looking to start anything stupid. They both knew secrets about the other that would shred both of their reputations to confetti - that was how bad it was. Luckily, neither of them were looking to do anything like that.

 

“I hope that my beloved Saihara-chan will enjoy his daily dose of voyeurism! Nishishi!” Shuuichi couldn’t help but smirk at Kokichi’s mannerisms. It translated very well to text "- he could hear Kokichi’s voice in his head as he read it.

Attached to the text was a four minute video. Four minutes and seventeen seconds to be exact. His mouth watered, four minutes and seventeen seconds following Kaito’s brief routine before he came to class. He couldn’t wait to watch it.

Speaking of class, some of his classmates started trickling in. They were all preoccupied with gossiping about something, not paying him much attention. It was a regular, understandable thing, since he sat in the last row of the class, as well as in a seat that wasalmost wedged into a corner. Obviously, ittook some time for him to be noticed. A few of his classmates still noticed him rather quickly regardless and they waved to him. He waved back, smiling a little.

Tsumugi, Kaede, Tojo and Rantaro. They usually noticed him, he was used to that. Maki briefly glanced his way as she made her way to her seat, and he had to prevent himself from recoiling in disgust. Something about her just rubbed him the wrong way - he couldn’t lay a finger on it, but something seemed slightly off about her. Not only had she gone out of her way to make herself unlikeable, she had snubbed the most likeable people in the class for no real reason. She’d even gone and insulted Kaito, of all people! Kaito! That was unforgivable in his eyes.

Demented bitch, that was what she was. Shuuichi worked to keep a neutral expression. Unlike Hoshi she didn’t even have any good reason to act that way. Besides that, Hoshi was starting to liven up a bit, out of his own accord too! That was a recent development that everyone was happy about. He'd had a needlessly hard life, and even he could appreciate the amount of strength it took to be able to move on from experiences like that. Speaking of Hoshi, he nodded at Shuuichi as he walked to his seat. Shuuichi nodded back, smiling. That was just Hoshi’s normal way of greeting people. He was a nice person, he just didn’t show it often. No one could fully fault him for that anyway, what with how life had screwed him over.

Shuuichi scanned over the rest of the class. Kaede and Tsumugi were eagerly babbling about something, gesturing frantically and practically bouncing in their seats. He listened a bit more closely, just for fun. Another magical girl show? Hmm. It dealt with an intergalactic war? Interesting.

He wondered what Kaito might think about it. He always loved shows that were set in space or about aliens. He wondered if Kaito liked magical girls. Maybe, maybe not. Personally, he didn’t really like them. They were generally too saccharine and heavy on the friendship-is-magic nonsense for his taste. He didn’t appreciate the needless fanservice either.

Looking at the rest of the class, he saw Tojo and Rantaro having a much quieter discussion. This seemed more tolerable, and they weren’t glowing as brightly either. Kaede and Tsumugi were glowing bright pink and red respectively, and since they sat next to each other it was quickly blending into an admittedly nice reddish pink. Rantaro and Tojo were making a nice pink-tinted black. Shuuichi eyed Rantaro’s aura. It was a silky-looking black that slowly diffused into whatever Rantaro touched. It was interesting to look at, but it was less alluring than Kaito’s bold, purplish pink. Maybe that was the reason why Kokichi had quickly become enamoured with him.

To put it into perspective, Rantaro had transferred into the school last year. And as soon Kokichi had laid eyes on the guy, Shuuichi had sworn he’d seen a familiar spark light up in Kokichi’s eyes.

They never really seemed to talk much in class, but Shuuichi saw how their auras mingled. If they weren’t officially dating, they were at least fucking reguarly. At least they were being subtle, unlike most couples or fuckbuddies on the campus. Speaking of couples, he needed to check the video soon.

More people filtered into the classroom and, predictably, Kokichi wasn’t a part of them. He was always laying the groundwork for some sort of scheme, so Shuuichi had long since stopped worrying about him. The worrying thing was that Kaito wasn’t there. Not that Kaito had never come late to class before, but nothing he’d been doing lately suggested that he would have any reason to come to class late this time around. He felt a bit nervous… watching the video would help him calm down.

He unlocked his phone again (the screen had turned off), muted his phone and opened the video, holding his phone in a way that made sure no one in front of him would be able to see what he was watching. He hit play.

Kaito got his books from his locker, checking his phone and smiling. He’d passed his most recent tests - Shuuichi had checked earlier - and the pride on his face was heartwarming. He fiddled with his phone for a little while longer, most likely texting someone. Then he gathered all the things he needed for his first few classes, shut his locker and started walking… in the opposite direction of this class.

Shuuichi’s eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. This was only around the one minute mark, so there would obviously be more coming. But what did this mean? He had no idea what it could be.

Kaito walked through the school building casually, as if there was absolutely nothing amiss. Some people saw him, and there were a few dazed, happy stares, some people who scuttled out of sight like hermit crabs, and only a few who managed to act like normal people and say hello, or just wave.

So Kokichi must have framed this to look like some sort of photography project. Even at that, something seemed a little off with how Kaito was acting. Kaito always did things with purpose, but something seemed a bit predatory about this video. He had no idea why, but even though he should have felt afraid, he felt excited, a little giddy. His breathing got a little shallower, a little faster.

Kaito walked into the library, flashing a bright smile at the librarian while saying hello, and the librarian smiled back, waving. That sparked up the mood in the library, with people straightening up, smiling, waving, doing anything to be seen on camera, even if only for a second. The atmosphere in the library seemed lifted, yet Shuuichi still felt uneasy about all of this. Kokichi would never send Shuuichi anything that was just an artistic project unless they had deliberated on it beforehand. There had been no talk about anything resembling that for a month.

Kaito walked through the library quickly, going to the back of the library. Alarm bells went off in his head. That was a definite warning sign. Absolutely nobody went to the back of the library in the morning without a very serious ulterior motive.

Shuuichi felt his heart speed up quickly, and his breathing became irregular, he sucked in a soft gasp, and he swore his jaw felt weak. He could feel people staring at him, but he didn’t care. He felt himself start shaking a little as Kaito stopped walking, in a part of the library that barely anyone knew about.

He walked up to a desk, with papers neatly stacked on top of it. Shuuichi felt like he was going to die. What did this mean? Kaito put down his things and turned over the papers. They had large letters on them, and it looked like a generic font. Kaito held one up to the camera-

Shuuichi felt himself shaking.

“I know who you are, Shuuichi Saihara,” the paper read.

“I know how much you like me.”

“I know that you stalk me.”

“I know exactly what you think about the people who hang around me.”

“Also, nice trick you pulled with tracking my grades! You’re pretty smart, I'll give you that.”

“I wouldn’t have even known that you were stalking me, you know?”

“Luckily, someone gave me a few pointers.”

“How many times have you jacked off to those pictures you like taking of me when I’m working out?”

Kaito had an ungodly smirk on his face as he rotated through the papers, holding them up to the camera. It would have been sexy in any other situation, but now it almost made Shuuichi want to throw up.

Kokichi had gone and exposed like this?! Why?! What had he done to deserve this? And what would Kaito think about him now? Oh god, he probably seemed like some sort of sick freak. Kaito would never love him now, and if he’d reported this his fucking livelihood was at stake! His uncle would disown him, he’d never be able to solve another case, restraining orders, oh he was fucked over for life-

“Calm down,” the newest paper said. “Breathe in, breathe out.”

 

Shuuichi felt himself complying, calming down his breathing. His mind was numb with shock and he couldn’t register anything apart from the feeling of nervous sweat on his forehead. He felt something coming towards him and he flinched backwards. The awful screech of chair leg against tile and the vibration running down his back meant that he’d backed into a wall.

“Get out of class and come to the library. Don’t bother bringing anything apart from your phone.”

The video ended, and Shuuichi instantly turned off the phone screen. His hand moved to cover his mouth as he practically sprinted to the door, oblivious to his classmates.

All he could hear was jumbled screaming and babbling, but he couldn’t care less. What did Kaito want? Did he even have a chance with him after this? Was there a way he could salvage this? What was Kaito’s ulterior motive in this? Why had Kokichi done this?!

His mind was practically imploding in on itself, and he was running as fast as he could to the library, his classmate’s worrying be damned.

He felt desperate, almost animalistic. Kaito had to love him, no matter what. That was all he knew. He had no idea what the hell he was going to do now… Kaito hadn’t reacted overly negatively, so maybe there was some hope left?

He made his way to the library as quickly as he could, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.


	2. Chapter Two

**CHAPTER TWO**

Kaito couldn't help but smile as Kokichi enthusiastically relayed the drama that had gone down in class.

 

“--and then he ran out of the room like a gazelle escaping from a forest fire!” Kokichi was almost bursting with laughter at this point, and Kaito himself couldn't help but join in. 

 

“So he looked like a deer in the headlights as soon as it got to that part?”

 

“That's what Rantaro told me,” Kokichi chirped, looking satisfied with himself. “But remember, Shuuichi can run pretty fucking fast when he wants to. That's the only way he can catch up with me, after all.”

 

“Yeah, I know. He follows me when I jog, you know?” It has always been so hard to ignore Shuuichi whenever he spotted him him. He was lean, a little curvy, but he still had a small layer of muscle on him. He had entrancing golden eyes that gleamed with lust, obsession and determination, and once, long before that, curiosity… 

 

He fucking loved Shuuichi Saihara. He was always quiet, and tried to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, but anyone with a single brain cell could tell that he was intelligent. He had a good track record of solving cases that the police had declared to be cold, yet he insisted on keeping to himself as much as possible, staying out of the limelight. He fascinated so many people, as he didn't even notice… 

 

…though, Kaito couldn't blame Shuuichi for that. He'd wanted his precious starshine to not have to worry about any unwanted attention, so he'd made sure Shuuichi had one of the most peaceful high school experiences a person could ever have. A few backhanded suggestions here, a little nudging elsewhere, and he'd made sure that Shuuichi was left alone and content. 

 

(However, there were times when empty threats hadn’t been enough to keep people away from Shuuichi. Those non-persons had had the gall to get it into their heads to try some form of nonsense, to try and bother his starshine. They’d climbed up the ladder from distant fools to suicidal morons by that point, and he treated them as such. It was usually hard for him to restrain himself from being violent, but at times like those, he let himself a little slack. A few bruises here and there, and a bit of careful bloodshed somewhere else made sure that Shuuichi was as safe and isolated as he wanted to be. 

 

(That, his bloodlust was usually mildly sated after properly sorting them out.)

 

He knew that his starshine preferred it that way. Shuuichi loved reading, and half the time, Kaito couldn't tell if he was reading a mystery novel or going over case files - his expression was always neutral and he was almost always heavily engrossed in whatever he was reading. His eyes would turn from warm to steely and there were times he could swear that he saw them light up as if in realization. Whenever Shuuichi blinked, Kaito had to steady himself. 

 

Why? 

 

Shuuichi Saihara had the prettiest fucking eyelashes Kaito had ever seen. They were just too fucking beautiful, managing to look both so lush and delicate at the same time. It was almost impossible for him not to stare at him; he was just too fucking perfect for his own good. 

 

He was also too composed, and it was the bane of Kaito's existence. On one hand, he loved it when Shuuichi managed to keep calm while the rest of the idiotic sheep panicked needlessly. On the other hand, it had caused a lot of fantasizing about what he would look like when starshine finally got to him. When that perfect exterior would finally get broken. 

 

“So,” he said, regaining Kokichi's attention, how long is it gonna take him to get here?”

 

“Right now? Less than a minute. Listen.”

 

He did, and he heard the faint but noticeable sound of hurried footsteps. Footsteps that were coming closer very quickly. 

 

Along with it, he felt Kokichi's excitement spike, leaving a slightly acidic aftertaste on the back of his throat. It was a little odd, his ability to detect other people’s emotions like this. Honestly, he never really used it much to begin with. He preferred to do things by himself, without relying on things like that, and he knew that if he overused it, its effects would be glaringly obvious and would lead right back to him.

 

He heard Kokichi snicker and saw him dart somewhere nearby, with obvious attempt to spy on him and Shuuichi. Typical. If he didn’t receive any monetary gain, he would take information, both benign and valuable. He was a pain in the ass that could safely afford to be one: he never failed any task you gave him, and - icing on the cake - he had a better track record than most of the information brokers at the school.

 

Kaito inhaled deeply as Shuuichi came closer, letting his ability have a little more leeway than it usually did. His emotions were a heady mix of determination and nervousness, with a small streak of terror mixed in. That last part both excited Kaito and put a damper on his mood. He liked being able to strike fear into people, but to his starshine? That was almost an unforgivable crime.

 

When Shuuichi finally came into view, it was immediately obvious that Kokichi hadn’t been exaggerating when it came to describing how rattled Shuuichi had gotten after seeing the video. He was still sweating, and he looked paler than usual. However, he didn’t look as scared shitless as his emotions suggested he would be. On the contrary, he looked as if he had some sort of plan in place.

 

Kaito felt his heart start beating a little faster as Shuuichi looked up at him, with both fear and determination mixed together in his golden eyes.

 

“Hello, Shuuichi,” he said, smiling a little.

 

“Hello, Kaito,” Shuuichi said cautiously, obviously unsure of what was coming next. 

 

“Why so nervous?” he asked, deliberately asking the one question that would be guaranteed to get a rise out of him.

 

Shuuichi’s look of disbelief was worth it, and he decided to press a little further.

 

“You didn’t think I came here to blackmail you, did you?” he asked. Shuuichi’s eyes widened, and Kaito felt his smile grow wider. He hadn’t bothered to make this into something that required much deciphering to figure out. Elaborate plans were not his forte, and he wasn’t going to try and pull anything over a detective, whether in training or not.

 

What he really wanted to do was finally be able to claim Shuuichi, and finally end the rift between them. He didn’t want to keep up the charade of not noticing Shuuichi, the act of the oblivious love interest. Ever since he’d noticed that Shuuichi was stalking him, he’d wanted to make the first move, but he’d known that he needed to wait for an opportune time.

 

Shuuichi’s eyes lit up, and Kaito felt the warmth of cautious hope coming strongly from Shuuichi. This entire set-up was probably a bit much, but how else would he know that he would have inexorably gotten Shuuichi’s attention? It had been a matter of time before things would have come to a head, and he’d just sped up the process.

 

“So, you were just…”

 

Trust the detective to be cautious.

 

“Making sure I’d fully caught your attention.”

 

“Of all the ways to ‘catch someone’s attention,’ this is one that I would have never seen coming.” His dry words belied the eagerness that as flowing just underneath the surface, and Kaito couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

 

“Well, I had to do something that wouldn’t catch anyone else’s attention.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

“Well, would you have preferred that I personally dragged you here instead?”

 

“Anything that wouldn’t have given me a heart attack would have been preferable, thank you very much.”

 

“Aww, really? You know, I have a flair for the dramatic, so it might have made you feel a little scared either way.”

 

Shuuichi scoffed.

 

“I had to get you back for all of those ‘missing’ items somehow, you know.”

 

At that, Shuuichi blushed a little, and the familiar tang of embarrassment practically leapt through the air. 

 

“S-Sorry about that…”

 

“You don't need to be sorry.”

 

“What?”

 

“If you'd just asked, I'd have gladly given them to you, you know.”

 

At that, Shuuichi tackled him on one of the tightest hugs he’d felt in years. Happiness, relief and fondness rolled off of Shuuichi in waves, and Kaito couldn’t help but reciprocate it, hugging him as close as he possibly could. He’d wanted to experience this sensation for so fucking long…

 

He couldn’t help himself from kissing Shuuichi on the cheek. The ensuing adorable squeal and blush on Shuuichi’s face just spurred him on to kiss him even more. It was probably ridiculously sappy, but by this point, he honestly could care less. Shuuichi’s reactions were just so fucking adorable; he couldn’t help himself!

 

Soon, however, the tables turned and Kaito found himself on the receiving end of a miniature kissing avalanche. Shuuichi had caught on quickly, and Kaito couldn’t help himself from feeling so fuzzy and ridiculously warm. It was almost ridiculous, how quickly they’d gone from the confrontation to this.

 

Thinking about how quickly they’d changed their tune on that made something click. As Shuuichi pulled back a little catch his breath, he lunged forward and pulled him into a heated kiss. 

 

Their bodies relaxed almost instantly as they slowly explored each other’s mouth with their tongues. Things had escalated pretty quickly, but it felt so natural. It felt like satisfying a craving he’d never known he’d had. It felt energizing, and it made his heartbeat race and his mind haze over. He couldn’t tell whether the emotions were his or Shuuichi’s or both of their emotions melding into something he’d never experienced before, but he didn’t care.

 

When they finally pulled away from each other, Kaito knew right then and there that he never wanted to give that feeling up. Ever.

 

They spent a few minutes simply basking in each other's company, a mutual feeling of contentment filling the air between them. 

 

Shuuichi broke the silence. 

 

“How long have you known that I--?”

 

Kaito answered before he could finish the question. “Six months.”

 

Shuuichi's grip on him tightened. “Why?” The single word as layered thick with emotions and unasked questions, but it was easy to understand. 

 

“Like I said, I had to set something up. There isn't exactly an easy way to broach this kind of topic.”

 

 “I agree with that. The only protest I have now is that I was legitimately scared of getting blackmailed. However, if that actually happened, both of us would be at risk.”

 

It took a second for the last sentence to fully process. 

 

“Well, in the end, we both have to be thankful that Kokichi exists. Else, both of us would still be wishing for an opportunity.”

 

Shuuichi chuckled. “I assume that's true. I only have one question now.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“How long have you wanted me?”

 

A simple answer. “Since middle school.”

 

“A case of mutual obsession, indeed.”

 

“That's one way to look at it. How long did you spend pining after me?”

 

Shuuichi smiled crookedly, and something about the expression sent a thrill up his spine. “Since elementary school. You always stood out from the crowd in one way or another, and let's just say… I got sick of the ordinary crowd very quickly.”

 

Kaito chuckled at that. Understatement of the year, that was what that was. “I have a similar story, if I'm being honest. You caught my attention as soon as I noticed that I wasn't able to read you as easily as I could others. If I'm truthful, it took me a few years before I could actually begin to decipher you. During the process, so I could figure you out without interference, and because you weren't all that eager about hanging around people, I convinced them to stay away.”

 

“My hero,” Shuuichi purred, smiling like a contented cat. “Really, thank you. It's helped me a lot, especially when it comes to being able to solve cases in peace without being pestered constantly by everyone and their mother. My few ‘friends’ are bad enough when it comes to that.”

 

Kaito couldn't help snickering at that. “Well, you're welcome. I did my best, everything else is your problem.”

 

“Between Kokichi's requests and Kaede's occasional overbearing nonsense, I'm lucky I survive the school day.”

 

“Well, isn't it a good thing that I'm here?”

 

“Save me, please.”

 

“You don't even have to ask, starshine.” It slipped out before he could really think to stop it, and he didn't really care. 

 

“Starshine? You've already given me a nickname?”

 

“What can I say? It's a habit.”

 

They spent a few seconds laughing a little before lapsing into yet another comfortable silence for a few minutes. 

 

He broke the silence this time. 

 

“So, what does this make us now?”

 

“Apart from mutually interested stalkers?” Shuuichi smiled wryly. 

 

“Yes,” Kaito replied, stifling his laughter, “apart from mutually interested stalkers.”

 

“How come?”

 

“Things did escalate a little quickly back there. It might help if we decided on what our relationship is before going any further.”

 

“You talk as if you haven't already decided on one.”

 

“I wouldn't want to go farther than you're comfortable with, is all.”

 

“Who knew the bad boy had such a soft heart?” Shuuichi's playful tone of voice didn't quite cover up the soft tones of gratitude that emanated from him. 

 

Maybe the emotion-sensing wasn't that much of a bad thing after all. 

 

“Very few people,” he said, playing along with it. 

 

“I'll consider myself lucky to be among that chosen few, then.”

 

“Mmm hmm. You do that.”

 

“That sounded a little patronizing back there.”

 

“You're not dodging the question this time around, Shuuichi.”

 

“And what makes you think that I have a history of question-dodging?”

 

“Apart from what you're doing right now? Whatever sorcery you've used to keep Kaede from hounding your 24/7.”

 

“That's less of question-dodging and more of artful dodging, really. Picking my seats carefully, minding where I go, things like that. Not being under the spotlight helped a lot. Or, more appropriately, not being under the public spotlight.” Again with the little jab at Kokichi's involvement. 

 

Either he or the gremlin himself would be taking the full brunt of a little anger or annoyance later on. At the very least, it wasn't an immediate concern. 

 

Not with all this thinly veiled sexual tension in the air, after all. 

 

“What can I say? You're a very alluring subject.”

 

“Indeed,” Shuuichi said dryly. “Going back to your question… the answer should be obvious, shouldn't it?”

 

“I still want to hear it from your mouth,” he said, holding Shuuichi a little closer. “Is that too much to ask?”

 

“That's teasing.”

 

“That's the point.”

 

Shuuichi's eyes darkened a bit, and he pushed up against him. His lust was so palpable that Kaito could almost taste it. 

 

Now, he just had to wait and see what Shuuichi would do about it. 

 

“How about I make an offer?” Shuuichi asked, after a few seconds. 

 

“I'm listening.” His interest was instantly piqued. 

 

“Looking over our actions for the past few years, I'm assuming that we both value actions over words.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“So, instead of wasting time telling you just how much I love you, why don't I just show you?”

 

“I would definitely prefer that.”

 

Shuuichi's eyes lit up like a candle and Kaito couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. 

 

He loved knowing that he'd been the one that caused that light to shine in Shuuichi's eyes. At the end of this, he was hoping that he'd be the only one that would ever be able to get this reaction out of him. 

 

(Something told him that he'd be able to get that wish.) 

 

He felt Shuuichi pushing against him with a little more force, trying to get him to move backwards a little bit. He complied, moving back until he could feel the light pressure of a table pressing against the back of his thighs. 

 

Shuuichi still pressed him forward a little more, so he moved accordingly. What ended up happening was that he ended up sitting on the table. Shuuichi quickly hauled himself onto the table as well, and ended up kneeling on the table and straddling on Kaito's laps at the same time. 

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow, and Shuuichi just smiled in response. 

 

Then everything flew out the window when Shuuichi leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

 

Unlike the previous time they'd kissed, this one wasn't in the heat of the moment. He could tell that Shuuichi wanted to take his sweet time with this one.

 

And it wasn't like he was about to disagree there. 

 

The sensation of Shuuichi's lips against his own was a pleasurable one. Shuuichi's lips were warm, soft and a little chapped. They were fitting, especially in combination with the soft, weak personality he would put up for others. 

 

Then Shuuichi's tongue gently probed against his lips, as if asking for entrance. 

 

Kaito's lips parted, and the kiss deepened quickly. He soon got to know that Shuuichi's mouth tasted faintly of coffee, milk, and - surprisingly - a bit of mint. It was an interesting taste, one that Kaito made sure to experience thoroughly as his tongue explored Shuuichi's mouth. 

 

His tongue ran over Shuuichi's teeth, almost as if he was counting them, before shifting focus to the sides and roof of Shuuichi's mouth. Shuuichi imitated his actions, albeit a little hesitantly, tentatively exploring his mouth. 

 

Soon the kiss became deeper and more passionate, and Kaito started to lose himself slightly in the sensation. 

 

At least, until he felt Shuuichi start to move. He slowly wrapped his arms around Kaito's torse, his hands resting at the small of his back for a few seconds before slowly venturing lower, until his hands were toying with the bottom hem of his uniform shirt. 

 

Kaito didn't feel any such reservations. He pulled Shuuichi closer to him, until both of their chests were pressed flush against each other. He could feel the warmth of Shuuichi's body through the fabric of the school uniform. 

 

It was a pity that Shuuichi preferred wearing the full school uniform: blazer and sweater included. But that wasn't going to stop Kaito from getting what he wanted. While one of his hands held Shuuichi's head closer to his, fingers gripping soft hair, the other quickly found its way to Shuuichi's waist, prying underneath both the blazer and the sweater to the thin button-up shirt that all students were required to wear. 

 

Then he pulled it up, forcefully untucking it from Shuuichi's pants. Soon, his hand was touching the warm skin at the small of Shuuichi's back. He felt Shuuichi shiver a little at the contact, as well as the accompanying surge of lust. 

 

He took the liberty to feel a little smug before he felt his own shirt getting tugged upwards. Before long, he felt Shuuichi's hands on his back, and he soon felt Shuuichi's nails digging into his back slightly. 

 

Looks like someone's particularly eager, he thought. 

 

Before long, much of the pretense of modesty had quickly evaporated. It had turned into a heated competition instead: who could get the other's clothes off the fastest? 

 

He was winning, hands down, and Shuuichi definitely wasn't complaining. It had been a bit of a hassle to get the unnecessary layers of clothing off, but it had been done, and the needless blazer and sweater were lying somewhere on the library floor. Not that he cared to check, really. What was more important was that he could explore Shuuichi's body without any hindrance. He was sure that by the end of the day, he'd have a pretty good grasp of where Shuuichi's sensitive spots were. 

 

Even now, Shuuichi was already putty in his hands. In fact, he was completely wrecked. 

 

His shirt was barely on right now. It was a little over halfway unbuttoned, exposing his chest and the upper part of his stomach. His skin was felt warmer, and Kaito was over fifty percent sure that if he opened his eyes right now, he'd see that around half of Shuuichi's body would be blushing a bright red. 

 

And on top of all that, Shuuichi was grinding on Kaito's laps almost feverishly, barely able to hold back his moans. His kissing had gotten even more heated and focused, and Kaito could safely say that he was sure that he'd memorized the taste of Shuuichi's saliva by this point. 

 

The best part of this was that it was a direct result of what he, Kaito Momota, had been able to do to him. The knowledge of that gave him a feeling of satisfaction that he was sure would never be surpassed in his life.

 

He fucking loved Shuuichi Saihara. 

 

A small feeling of of pain brought his focus back to the task at hand. 

 

During all of this, he'd been able to catalog a lot of interesting things about Shuuichi. The most interesting thing had been that he was a little stronger than he looked. That, and his nails, despite looking unassuming, were surprisingly sharp. 

 

Case in point, his back was going to be covered in scratches by the end of this. Not like he minded. 

 

(He had a sadistic streak, he wouldn't deny it. But despite that, he had to admit… Feeling Shuuichi scratch at him like that… felt good. Really fucking good. He wasn't about to admit it out loud, though.)

 

Instead, he decided to get a little payback. Said payback was squeezing Shuuichi's ass. 

 

The surprised jolt and slight hitching of breath from Shuuichi confirmed that, yes, he'd definitely gotten payback for that. 

 

More than that, Shuuichi's ass was actually pretty nice to hold. It was just the right size to squeeze, and it was pleasantly soft. He couldn't help but squeeze Shuuichi's ass again, and bask in the light amusement that came from his boyfriend's reaction. He did it again, and got an even better reaction from him.

 

He had to restrain himself from chuckling about how quickly Shuuichi was able to start adapting to this, snuggling even closer, and pushing his ass more into Kaito's touch. 

 

He shouldn't be surprised. Looking back, Shuuichi had displayed a remarkable talent for adjusting his schedule to allow for a few occasional run-ins, as well as plenty of different windows where he would be able to spy on him with ease. 

 

Being a detective has a few perks, apparently. 

 

Not like it mattered now. Now, they'd be able to spend as much time as they wished together, with no need for useless, roundabout tactics. He couldn't wait to start spending more time openly with his starshine. 

 

Speaking of which, he had an idea. A perverted one, but an idea all the same. 

 

His hands ventured lower, to the waistband of Shuuichi's pants, and as soon as he gained a good grip on it, he started pulling it down. A rush of excitement and lust from Shuuichi sealed his course of action. This was definitely going to be fun--

 

“As much as I hate to break you two lovebirds up, you do realize that this is a public library, do you not?”

 

He instantly felt like as if he’d been doused in ice water.

 

He and Shuuichi separated abruptly, a searing flare of panic coming from Shuuichi. In tandem, they turned around to face the intruder.

 

Well, he turned around as best as he could in his current position. What he really did could be more akin to leaning back and twisting his torso a little to look behind him. It wasn’t exactly a feat of acrobatics, but it was enough to make a few of the fresh cuts on his back sing with a bit of discomfort. Beyond that, he'd had to use one of his hands to brace himself on the table in this position and he was sure he heard a few of the papers fall onto the floor. 

 

(Extra cleanup. Fantastic.)

 

Behind him, he could feel that Shuuichi had changed his own position, leaning on him slightly, kneeling a bit more properly, but still ready to bolt at any sign of danger.

 

It didn't take long for him to spot the intruder, and when he did, his stomach simultaneously both dropped and felt as if it was going to boil over. 

 

It was Kokichi. 

 

The fucking brat.

 

He'd forgotten that he's been hiding behind them somewhere; he’d forgotten about that in the heat of the moment.

 

Something that he now regretted. Absolutely fantastic.

 

But the little gremlin was also holding something… 

 

A camera. A rather familiar one, really. He’d been filmed with it this morning. However, the way he was holding it… 

 

He had… 

 

Oh hell no.

 

He fucking recorded that?! 

 

“What the fuck?” The insult fell from his lips out of habit, but this time, he felt genuine anger behind it. 

 

He'd known full well that Kokichi would have taken some sort of blackmail in return for his services, but for him to choose to record this? This was a fucking private moment, for goodness sakes, couldn't he have looked for something else? Fuck, the mere fact that they'd been stalking each other -with his fucking help, mind you - was fucking social poison, and he already had clear trails to work from that!

 

It was irrational rage, he knew. He knew exactly why Kokichi was doing this, after all. But he wanted to have at least a little fucking privacy, for God's sake… 

 

“Oh, you've stopped trying to fuck on the library table, thank goodness!” Kokichi continued, wearing that seemingly everlasting shit-eating grin on his face. 

 

He felt his lips curl into a snarl as he heard Shuuichi gasp in complete and utter befuddlement. 

 

The stunned silence only lasted for a few more seconds before he broke it. 

 

“Listen here, you little shit--”

 

“Oh, come off it, both of you. And I mean the table as well, not just your anger and incredulity.”

 

Kaito growled after he fully processed Kokichi's statements. Despite what most might assume from the school reporter's ordinarily pleasant-looking features and short stature, he had a tongue so acidic that it was a miracle he didn't burn people with just how scathing he could be at times. 

 

Whatever the case, he and Shuuichi quickly got the message and adjusted their behavior accordingly. It took less than a minute for each of them to fully compose themselves. 

 

However, it was undeniable that the atmosphere had taken a sharp downturn, and Kaito was glad to know that the displeasure was mutual. 

 

He glared at Kokichi, not for much reason apart from directing his anger at something. Of course, Kokichi met his glare without an ounce of fear, but with an indecipherable look on his face. 

 

He was sure that some part of his life had crashed at full speed the day that he'd turned around and seen Kokichi's eyes studying him from a relatively short distance away. 

 

No matter what people said about his reputation for being uncooperative and mischievous, nobody could deny that he was one of the most dangerous people in the school, maybe even more so than Kaito himself in some circles.

 

Nobody knew his motives, or just how he'd amassed an infiltration ring so airtight he could get damming information about everyone at the school with almost deadly ease. All they knew was that he was one of the few people you didn't want to screw around with.

 

Everything he did had a purpose, and unfortunately for most people, said purpose was often buried under at least a dozen false leads. Which meant that there was some reason he'd interrupted them at this point, aside from the obvious fact that he had gotten enough information to completely ruin them at any time he wanted. 

 

But, now that he'd regained his bearings, he realized part of the reason why he and Shuuichi would have needed to break apart anyhow. 

 

People could suspect something was up if they wither returned to class late or evaded the rest of the school day entirely. He didn't need any uncontrollable rumors circulating, no matter how harmless they might initially seem. Anything that ran unchecked could easily snowball into something else entirely, and he didn't want that, not at all. 

 

The unfortunate thing was that the idiots at this school somehow managed to scrounge up two brain cells to rub together as soon as it came to things that things that didn't concern them .

 

So, pray tell, how was Kokichi planning on helping them avoid that?. 

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow, looking at Kokichi with thinly veiled skepticism. Kokichi smiled in response. 

 

“You'll find out soon enough,” he said. 

 

Immediately, he felt Shuuichi's wariness increase, and even though he didn't look, he knew that Shuuichi was looking between the two of them with slight confusion. He was probably putting two and two together very quickly, and when they were alone, he was sure that he'd get bombarded with questions. 

 

Not that he minded. His starshine was welcome to ask anything from him at any time. 

 

The tense silence lasted for a few more minutes before he heard the distant sound of screaming. 

 

Screaming that seemed to be getting distantly closer rather quickly. 

 

It was also interspersed with the sound of… running water?

 

He felt his spine stiffen on instinct, and something in the back of his head told him that it would be a bad idea to turn around. 

 

He felt a hand clamp down tightly onto his forearm, and the feeling of befuddlement beside him. He looked at Shuuichi, who looked both like he'd deciphered something that he didn't like, and like he was dreading something that would happen imminently. 

 

They held their gaze for a few seconds, before they started at the sound of something breaking above them. 

 

They looked up… 

 

…only to be drenched in freezing cold water.

 

He heard Shuuichi scream beside him, as well as Kokichi's hysterical laughter. 

 

“You're welcome, lovebirds! Free vacation!”

 

Kaito didn't even want to know how this happened; he just wanted to get out of the school as fast as possible. He grabbed Shuuichi as quickly as he could, and started running for the nearest exit as if it was his only hope of salvation. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick tip: when the chat part comes up, Kaito is the one who ignores all semblance of punctuation. Shuuichi's test is in italics, with proper punctuation.
> 
> That is all.

**CHAPTER THREE**

Kaito knew that he should probably be paying attention to the class he was having now, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to do so. 

 

The emotional mix within the class meant that his classmates weren’t paying attention either, so it wasn’t like he was out of place. He spared a quick glance up at the board, and barely repressed a sigh. 

 

The teacher himself looked as if he was about to fall half-asleep as he droned on and  _ on _ in a lecture that sounded suspiciously similar the section of the textbook that the class had been instructed to read the previous night. As in, this was some sort of direct audiobook version of it, no strings attached. This particular teacher wasn’t one of the more vibrant teachers, but he was usually less bland than this.

 

This lecture was the definition of boring, and nobody would be able to convince him otherwise. All this really did was make him feel bored and vaguely sad. The emotions of his classmates were the icing on the cake, really. 

 

Apathy and disappointment felt like a fog around the school these days. It felt like a heavy, choking, wet blanket tossed over the school atmosphere, slowly strangling them all to death. 

 

It was amazing how everything had slowed to a standstill so damn quickly.

Probably because it had been a two weeks since what was now dubbed, “The Sprinkler Incident.”

 

(Part of him still wanted to give Kokichi a good slap on the face for the entire incident.)

 

A  _ lot  _ had transpired during the first week. 

 

For one, workers had been on campus for a few days, fixing whatever had gone wrong with the sprinklers. They had only malfunctioned in certain places. Mainly in places that could avoid having any sort of major property damage. The odd thing was, in large areas, say, the gym or the library, only a fraction of the sprinklers would go off in said areas, always around places where people were. 

 

The temperature system had probably been tampered with, in some odd way. That was the only way he could rationalize it. Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to lend much time to think about it. Thinking over it just caused more and more confusion, if he was honest. And in the end, its consequences were negligible. All it had done was get school canceled for two days. Two days which would have ordinarily, if not for the near-miraculous incident that had taken place beforehand, been spent in painful, painful boredom, only broken by studying Shuuichi’s stalking patterns, and doing a little stalking of his own.

 

He’d become very good at telling what mood Shuuichi was in by studying his stalking patterns. It was a nice accompaniment to the familiar pulse of his emotions.

 

(When Shuuichi was in a good mood, Kaito would be able to feel him practically fizzing with excitement while watching him, studying him intently. On days when his mood was worse, Shuuichi would stalk him more closely, cutting his boundaries rather close by, taking in his actions with near-religious devotion. His jealousy would spike more frequently, and he was around fifty percent more likely to steal one of his belongings. During those days, Kaito faced a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, he liked that his starshine had his attention almost exclusively focused on him, and he didn’t mind it if Shuuichi took his things. And  _ maybe _ , just maybe he liked it when Shuuichi felt jealous over him. Maybe. On the other hand, however, he didn’t like it when his starshine wasn’t happy.) 

 

(Whenever Shuuichi was in a bad mood, he had to admit that it rubbed off on him as well. He wanted to know who or what made him feel bad, and most of the time, he wanted to punch it. It was a bad sore spot for him, not knowing the origin of Shuuichi’s bad mood. The times that he was able to pinpoint exactly what it was were some of the most turbulent times he’d ever had. On one hand, it was a good thing that most of them happened to be people. On the other hand, it was a pity that he couldn’t automatically trash their godforsaken asses. “Reputation” and “legal prohibitions” were really pains in the ass sometimes.)

 

(What he  _ had  _ been able to do was make sure that, in subtle ways, they got paid back. There wasn’t any harm in a few tidbits of gossip here and there. A questionable action, or a misplaced quote could really do things in the wheels and cogs of the gossip machine in this school.)

 

Speaking of Shuuichi, he'd been part of the second major occurrence. Well, technically, both of them  _ were _ the major occurrence. 

 

They had finally, finally been able to make their relationship official. Not only that, but go out on their first date. Seeing as they’d been stalking each other for months, they’d already known each other’s addresses, and things had gone quite well from there.

 

The surprising thing was that he hadn’t even made the first move. And the day after school had been cancelled, no less. Kaito had woken up confused, wondering why he could feel Shuuichi’s presence behind his window of all places, only to look back and see a smitten Shuuichi staring at him through the glass.

 

It was one of the best surprises of his life.

 

He’d let Shuuichi in, mindful to warn him to keep as quiet at possible so as to not disturb his grandparents. He may have gotten pleasantly surprised, but he didn’t want or need them questioning what was going on in his life right now.

 

In the end, they’d had a nice time simply enjoying each other’s company, and making plans for a date later that day. A rather quick escalation, some would say, but there was a remarkable difference between getting close to someone by actively and consistently monitoring their daily movements, and actually  _ actively _ interacting with them during an ongoing event in their life. There was a good reason why most stalkers eventually started trying to get closer to their targets, after all. 

 

It was an insatiable craving to get closer to someone you had such an inexplicable obsession with, and it could only be satisfied by actually getting into their life in one way or another. It was the difference between watching the object of your obsession have a conversation with someone else, and actually holding a conversation with them yourself. No matter how brief or meaningless the interaction was, it went a small way to satiate that craving.

 

As well as simultaneously increase the craving tenfold.

 

It got worse when you couldn’t even interact with them because of difficult circumstances. The date, although rather tame by most people’s standards, had hit him hard.

 

No more wasting time to figure out roundabout ways to be able to have the barest glimpse of Shuuichi, to be able to make sure everything was alright. No more days spent almost ceaselessly trying to suppress his rage because of what some of the idiots who attended this school tried to do to Shuuichi. No more roundabout ways of making sure Shuuichi was kept as happy and safe as possible. 

 

Those days were long gone. 

 

Now, he could actually interact with Shuuichi personally, without having to hide anything, or watch from a distance. The joy of direct contact was almost fucking indescribable. He never wanted to give it up, or let it go.

 

And neither did Shuuichi.

 

Almost every spare moment they had between classes, before and after school was spent together, whether back in the library or on the school roof, just talking about how each other’s days was going, what they planned to do after school, what they thought of the general crowd of brainless idiots… their discussions could go on and on.

 

Kaito almost hated the fact that they couldn’t ditch school and simply enjoy their days basking in each other’s company. Everything apart from Shuuichi seemed so trivial nowadays… obsesion did a number on one’s perspective, he was sure.

 

He couldn’t help the dry smile that crept onto his face at that thought. He couldn’t wait until this class finally ended. It was the last class of the day, and he couldn’t wait to get out of it. He and Shuuichi had plans for the rest of the day, and he couldn't wait to start them. He could be called lovesick, really.

 

He definitely wasn’t the only one in the school that was like this, that was for sure. 

 

Rantaro and Kokichi were one of the school’s least flamboyant couples, but Kaito would have to be an idiot to not notice the steep rise of their emotions whenever they were simply  _ near  _ each other. Not even talking. Just happening to bein the  _ same fucking vicinity,  _ with no eye contact, would always get an emotional rise so fucking steep that his brain momentarily felt like it had turned into nothing but foam for a second before passing away.

 

If he didn’t know any better, they could sense each other’s presence from a distance. It was better that his emotion-sensing in that aspect, if it was true. He’d learned pretty quickly that it seemed to have some sort of limit on it. He could sense someone’s emotions from around 500 square feet away, and that was if he really put effort into it. If he tried to track a person farther than that, he’d get a headache.

 

It was a good thing that Shuuichi had preferred stalking him from a closer distance, or he’d have driven himself up a wall trying to figure out if he was doing alright. And now he wanted to get out of this class even more.

 

Suddenly, he felt a rush of excitement flow through the air. The general mood seemed to have flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that, yes, the class was over in two minutes.

 

It was a classic “the evil had been defeated” moment..

 

Kaito, like the rest of the class, quickly and enthusiastically packed his bag, disregarding what the teacher was saying in favor of packing his things as quickly as possible. Predictably, the teacher’s mood dropped just as quickly, but it rose again to the normal level of apathy present throughout the school. There was no need being disappointed at this, really. It was a Friday, and a Friday meant that the next two days could be spent doing things far more stimulating than attempting to teach a class of bored students about English.

 

“Attempting” was the key word, because despite physics being an interesting topic, the teacher was absolute trash at actually teaching it. If he hadn’t known the language already, he’d be suffering like most of his classmates. 

 

Some teachers just didn’t have a good teaching method, he guessed. As long as he was doing well despite that, it didn’t really matter.

 

As if to add emphasis to that final thought, the bell rang. Kaito heard the teacher sigh, before weakly reminding everyone to study for their test in two weeks. Absolutely no one paid him any heed, instead choosing to gallop out of the classroom as if their shoes had been lit on fire.

 

He preferred a more sedate pace… speed-walking as fast as he could in order to get home as fast as possible. From there, he’d be able to change out of his uniform into casual clothes and meet up with Shuuichi a the park, like they’d arranged earlier.

 

“ _ No running in the halls! _ ” --he wasn’t interested in getting yelled at by the ever-uptight upperclassman, Kiyotaka Ishimaru. He felt the familiar chill of fear pass through the air like a shockwave as some of his fellow classmates remembered that there was a reason that people were always careful on Fridays, particularly around this block of the school.

 

_ Idiots, _ he thought, quickly leaving them behind to get themselves chewed out. This school could be completely and utterly ridiculous at times… ugh.

 

To tune out the noise, he got out his phone and started texting Shuuichi.

 

..---...

 

>>hey babe finally got out of class!

 

_ <<Class, or suffering? _

 

>>suffering would be more apt, i guess. God, the teacher couldnt be any worse if he straight up sat down at his desk and read directly from the fucking textbook without looking up

 

_ <<I consider myself lucky that my English teacher isn’t that boring. _

 

>>plz do, around 99% of the class is barely making a passing grade

 

_ >>Ouch. Them, along with half of the school. _

 

<<sucks to be them, someone should put them out of their misery 

 

_ >>No sympathy for their plights? How heartless!  _ Shuuichi’s sarcasm was crystal clear even through text, and it made Kaito smile.

 

<<heartless, my ass it's not like any of them are ever gonna ever use their english skills anyhow

 

_ >>What a waste of money on the part of their parents, then. _

 

_ >>Wait. What’s all that noise? Someone’s yelling at the top of their lungs. _

 

<<when idiots run in the halls…

 

_ >>Oh god no _

 

<<unfortunately, yes. Some people never learn.

 

_ >>For God’s sakes, wouldn’t people have learned by now not to piss off the upperclassman whose voice sounds as if he has a built-in amplifier in his throat every time he speaks? _

 

<<in this school? Shuuichi, you overestimate the intelligence of these npcs

 

_ >>There’s limited data storage, and then there’s a complete lack of it. _

 

<<bold of you to assume they have storage space in their tiny ass brains for something as complex as that

 

_ >>Common sense has become uncommon, but simple reasoning has become uncommon as well? Oh, the humanity. _

 

<<the world drove itself into the ground for a reason, lmao

 

_ >>Ah, yes. Seeing as around half the people here are the offspring of people who had some part to play in it, I shouldn’t be surprised. _

 

<<idiots everywhere

 

_ >>Mm hmm _

 

_ >>Say, have you seen anything suspicious about Kaede lately?  _ So it wasn’t just his imagination about that… 

 

<<a little bit

 

_ >>She’s been acting a little off. Her attention is a little preoccupied by something, and for once I’m sure it isn’t the piano. _

 

<<let her hear you say that and shell verbally walk you through an essay about how piano music is the best thing to have ever been created by mankind

 

_ >>Bold of you to assume she hasn’t already done that before. _

 

<<hm i don’t like the sound of that

 

_ >>I survived, is the main point of it.  _

 

_ <<tbh, I think she’s getting preoccupied with whatshername… long blue hair, glasses, talks about anime a lot. shes in our history class, but she never really contributes anything meaningful _

 

It wasn’t a stellar description, but she was so far off of his radar that he’d never really bothered to learn her name before all of this. It was a bit embarassing, really, but although he had a wide circle of friends, they usually fell into two categories. “Placeholder” friends who were people he kept around to maintain his reputation, and people who he didn’t hang out with as obviously, but who were actually useful for his shadier activities.

 

She fell in neither of those categories.

 

_ >>Tsumugi Shirogane.  _

 

Of course his starshine would know her. He had a keen eye for things like this. The perks of being a detective, he assumed. 

 

<<right. kaede’s been pulling a few strings recently, if i remember right. shes heading in a direction that makes it seems like she’s getting really fucking preoccupied with tsumugi. kinda similar to something else, don’t you think?

 

Her emotions had been a little haywire for the first few days after resumption, but she’d quickly settled down and started expanding her social circle a bit more. He’d caught her staring at…  _ Tsumugi _ once or twice, but had never really bothered to ask about it.

 

It had been enough dealing with the rush of excitement that accompanied that action each time she did it. Sometimes it could be just as jarring as the deal Rantaro and Kokichi. 

 

(Speaking of him, Rantaro usually got a smartass look on his face every time she did it, too. He wondered why.)

 

_ >>Are you telling me that you think that she's stalking her?  _

 

<<nah. she prolly IS stalking her or targeting her at the very least. not that I can understand why tho

 

_ >>They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you know.  _

 

<<look shuuichi. there's beauty and then there's just fucking stupid people latching onto whatever is remotely attractive looking 

 

_ >>W H a T _

 

He couldn't help the victorious smile that came with managing to knock Shuuichi off-balance like that. 

 

What could he say? Sometimes his humor was a teeny bit abrasive. 

 

<<i stand by my statement 

 

_ >>God, Kaito, you nearly killed me back there! _

 

_ >>And if what Kaede feels for Tsumugi is anything like what we feel for each other, you could be on thin ice, you know  _

 

<<oh come on starshine have you not seen how strong i am

 

_ >>During times of extreme anger, the human body can become much stronger than usual.  _

 

<<isn't that either fear or stress tho 

 

_ >>Either way…  _

 

<<not like I'll l tell her to her face. don't worry, I'll be fine

 

_ >>Top ten things said before disaster… _

 

<<oh come on 

 

_ >>Heh. I'm wondering more about Tsumugi, if I'm being honest. She'd always been a bit quiet but she's started to display a few signs of obsession herself.  _

 

<<like what? 

 

_ >>Hanging onto Kaede's every word like a lifeline, for one, practically bursting with excitement whenever she talks to Kaede, for another, writing “Mrs. Tsumugi Akamatsu” all over her notes for three. _

 

<<OH MY FUCKING GOD LMAO WTF?!??!? 

 

_ >>I saw it with my own eyes.  _

 

<<U FUCKIN SURVIVED!!! 

 

_ >>I did. Kaede's lucky, really, Tsumugi’s probably ready to do absolutely anything she says by this point.  _

 

<<w O w fucking amazing 100/10 how the fuck did i not notice 

 

_ >>Combination of seating arrangements and Tsumugi generally being so forgettable that you need to make an effort to observe her.  _

 

<<im hoping you didnt get bored of looking at me thi

 

A joking statement, of course. But something in him couldn't help but feel displeased about it. They probably had different classes together, and it wasn't like he himself didn't occasionally waste time by trying to figure out what the fuck either Kokichi or Rantaro was trying to pull. 

 

_ >>Of course not! That's sacrilege, Kaito! I just happen to have a few other classes with them, and they're usually the most prominent people in it. Boredom drove me to it, really.  _

 

<<jk jk. but STILL obsession may manifest in different forms, but god damn there's such a thing as subtlety in this world 

 

_ >>Subtlety? I'm sure most of this school doesn't know what the word means. _

 

<<h

 

<<whatever the case, i wish both of them good luck 

 

>>Same here, really. Pining just straight up hurts like a bitch, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't let up at all. 

 

<<press F to pay respects 

 

_ >>F _

 

<<anyway, back to important business

 

<<do you wanna grab a bite to eat after we spend some time at the park?

 

_ >>Sure! You know, a new restaurant launched a little while ago in town. _

 

<<really? is it the place that everyone's practically swearing by rn? 

 

_ >>It's been getting a lot of good reception, yeah.  _

 

<<so you wanna try some food from that place? 

 

_ >>Mm hmm!  _

 

<<it's not that far from the park, right? 

 

_ >>It's within walking distance, actually. _

 

<<its a damn good coincidence, then

 

_ >>Yay!  _

 

God, sometimes Shuuichi could be so cute it was unfair. 

 

_ >>See you later! <3 _

 

And he couldn't fucking wait to see him again. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please leave kudos and maybe comment about anything you really liked?
> 
> My Tumblr is @millixia78, but I also have a Tumblr that will (hopefully) be exclusively for my writing projects called @millixia78-writes!


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